As technology increases, the number of computing devices with which the average consumer interacts also increases. In the past, a consumer may have possessed a home desktop computer that they used for all of their Internet browsing and e-commerce needs. In such instances, an advertisement that was displayed to the consumer prior to the consumer making a related purchase might get credit for attribution of the purchase because of the commonality of the identification of the communication device, via browser-based cookies stored in the desktop computer or other known identification mechanisms. However, as technology has increased, the same consumer may now possess multiple computer platforms such as their home desktop computer, as well as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and a smart phone, for instance, each possibly presenting a different set of communication channels. The consumer may be exposed to an advertisement on each of the platforms before finally making a purchase using one of the platforms or via an in-person payment transaction.
In many systems, the purchase may be attributed to the platform with which the consumer made their purchase. However, such systems may neglect to consider the other platforms used by the consumer on which they were exposed to an advertisement or content related to the purchase. In the case of an in-person transaction, no platform may receive attribution for the purchase as traditional attribution systems and advertising agencies are unable to identify in-person transactions, let alone further identify a computing device used by the consumer prior to the transaction.
Thus, there is a need for a technical solution to enable the attribution of individual purchases to multiple computing devices. Identification of a transaction account associated with a computing device may enable the attribution of a computing device (e.g., that has received a related advertisement) to a purchase. However, in many instances, computing devices may receive digitized tokens for use in payment transactions in place of traditional account credentials. As such, computing devices may be associated with digitized tokens and not directly associated with a transaction account. Thus, many computing systems may be unable to identify a transaction account associated with a computing device, instead being limited to identifying the associated digitized token. Therefore, there is also a need for a technical solution where a system that is configured to manage the use of digitized tokens is further configured to identify related computing devices based on associated digitized tokens and transaction account data for use in platform attribution.
Some methods have been developed for the use of a single identifier that is associated with a transaction account that is different from the transaction account number, which may be used as an identifier for transactions using the real transaction account number as well as any digital tokens associated with that account. For example, some payment card standards suggest the use of a payment account reference (PAR), a unique identifier associated with a transaction account that is stored in an additional data element conveyed any time the real transaction account number or any associated digital token is used. However, the use of an additional reference number in transactions themselves may require modification to all existing points of sale, payment networks, financial institutions, and merchant systems. In addition, while this information may be used during the processing of transactions, it may be unavailable to advertisers and other entities, which may be able to identify that a purchase is made using a device, but may be prohibited from accessing any payment information from that device. Thus, there is a need for a technical solution for enhanced attribution of computing devices that utilizes information identifying the devices themselves, which can be associated together without modification to legacy transaction systems.